Impact of Change in Cropping Pattern on Female Labour Participation: A Case Study of Mallapally Village in Kerala

This paper has assessed the labour absorption capacity of crops, viz. paddy, tapioca, coconut and rubber and has examined the implications of shift in cropping pattern on female labour through a primary survey of cultivating households in Mallapally village situated in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. The study is based on cross-section comparisons of labour utilized by different landholding-size classes and under different crops at the same point of time. The study has observed a significant decline in female employment in the case of shifting of acreage from paddy to coconut, paddy to rubber, tapioca to coconut and tapioca to rubber. The shifting of one acre of paddy to coconut resulted in a decline of female employment by 43 human-days, while the shift from paddy to rubber resulted in a decline of female employment by 40 human-days. The paddy being a highly female-labour intensive crop, any shift from paddy to cash crops would result in large displacement of female agricultural workers.